Hello my love:
There are about 300 saints named Colman mentioned in Irish martyrologies: for our purposes, we shall consider three.
Colman of Cloyne (c. 530-c.606), bishop. Born in Munster, he became a poet and a royal bard at Cashel and was about fifty years old when he became a Christian, supposedly as a consequence of Brendan discovering the bones of Ailbe at Cashel. After being ordained a priest and consecrated bishop he worked in Limerick and Cork, where he built the first church at Cloyne and another at Kilmaclenine. In both places are the remains of the churches; at Cloyne there was also a holy well. Feast 24 November.
Colman of Dromore, bishop of the 6th century. Born in Ulster, he spent much of his working life in Co. Down and was founder of the monastery at Dromore where he was also bishop. There he is reputed to have taught Finnian of Molville. He was venerated in both Scotland and Ireland from early times on 7 June: the Scottish cult being possibly due to his disciples or to another tradition of his birth, viz. in Dalraida (Argyllshire). The churches of Llangolman and Capel Colman in Dyfed are also sometimes attributed to him, but whereas the date of the feast in Scotland and Ireland is constant, that of the founder of these Welsh churches is 20 November.
Colman of Kilmacduagh (d. c. 632), bishop. Born at Corker in Kiltartan in the mid 6th century, he became a monk at Aranmore and later lived at Burren (Co. Clare) where, having been unwillingly consecrated bishop, he lived with only one disciple on a diet of vegetables and water. He later founded a monastery at Kilmacduagh on land given him by King Guaire of Conaught and was venerated as its first bishop. Like other monastic saints he was reputed to have a special affinity with animals: a cock used to wake him before the night-office, a mouse prevented him from going to sleep after it, and a fly kept the place in his book. Part of his crozier is in the National Museum, Dublin. Feast: 29 October.
We don’t build a perfect marriage by building a perfect wedding. But we can take extraordinary steps to make everyone we care about know how much we love each other and how much we love them, and how we look toward them for guidance. We can have a church or a Church or a Church. It wouldn’t matter to me, as long as I get to show the world that I have chosen you and you have chosen me. That’s what the wedding is for.
Love, Shuggie's Ghost
Ambassador of Prague/Dublin/Cleveland
